ARTICLES ABOUT CRACK COCAINE BY DATE - PAGE 3

A Hampton man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty in December to cocaine and drug charges. Dustin Deon Walker, 35, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in December to two of the 14 counts against him: conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine and possessing a firearm in a drug trafficking crime. Several other charges, including nine money laundering charges and other drug and gun charges, were dropped as part of the December plea agreement.

New restrictions that would change the face of Virginia's $1 billion-a-year payday lending industry cleared the General Assembly by overwhelming margins Thursday. Critics of the storefront businesses were optimistic that some measure of consumer protection is finally on the way. An industry representative branded the bill as too restrictive, saying it penalizes responsible borrowers who need quick cash and see the short term, fee-based loans as a convenient option. The legislation now goes to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who will likely sign it. "We feel good about this bill," Kaine said.

Four suspects arrested in a November 2007 roundup of area drug dealers have pleaded guilty to federal indictments involving the distribution of crack cocaine. Ethel Lee Braxton, 45, Lorenzo Braxton, 27, O'Bryan Braxton, 28, and George Perry III, 26, all pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of more than 50 grams of cocaine base. O'Bryan Braxton also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

Police arrested a Richmond man early Thursday on charges he was involved in a Christmas Eve drug deal that ended in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Tommie Lee Canty Jr. Travis Reese, 21, was charged with murder, cocaine possession and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Reese, who goes by the street name "Biz," lives in Richmond but sometimes stays with his mother in Newport News, the warrant shows.A search warrant says Canty called Reese late Christmas Eve to arrange for a meeting so Canty could sell Reese seven grams of crack cocaine.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to apply reduced sentences for crack cocaine offenses to 19,500 people behind bars, a move that could have a dramatic effect on Virginia. More than 1,400 prisoners sentenced on federal crack cocaine charges in the Eastern District of Virginia over the past 15 years could have their sentences cut under the new rules. That federal district - which spans from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., to Hampton Roads - ranks at the very top of 94 federal court districts nationwide in the number of people who could be released early.

More than 1,400 prisoners sentenced on federal crack cocaine charges in Eastern Virginia over the past 15 years could get their prison time cut if the U.S. Sentencing Commission applies new sentencing guidelines to people already jailed. The Eastern District of Virginia - which includes Hampton Roads and runs from Northern Virginia to the North Carolina border - ranks at the very top of 94 federal court districts nationwide in the number of people who could be released earlier than once expected if the change takes hold.

The Virginia Supreme Court has reversed a Hampton conviction in a cocaine distribution case, saying a Hampton Circuit Court judge erred in allowing "misleading" evidence to be introduced at a jury trial. The state's highest court last week said it was wrong for Judge William C. Andrews to allow a prosecutor from the Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney's office to question a defendant about a drug possession incident that occurred four months after the drug dealing charge at issue in the trial.

A Suffolk man still awaiting trial in the 2005 shooting death of a 14-year-old girl was sentenced in federal court this week for selling guns and drugs. Willie Lamark Waters, 22, also known as "Boom Boom," "Bang 'Em Up" and "Mark," was sentenced to 21 years and eight months in prison for selling guns and crack cocaine in Suffolk in 2004 and 2006. On March 14, 2004, Portsmouth police, assisted by a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, purchased a .40 caliber Kahr Arms semiautomatic pistol and crack cocaine from Waters, according to the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Attorney's Office.

A Newport News mother, still jailed without bond, could spend the rest of her life in prison if convicted of rape and sodomy. A woman accused of prostituting her 10-year-old daughter this past weekend in exchange for crack cocaine will remain in jail without bond, a Hampton Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge ruled Thursday. The 36-year-old Newport News woman was arrested Monday and charged with rape, aggravated sexual battery, forcible sodomy and conspiracy to commit forcible sodomy.

She is charged with forcing her daughter to have sex with a Hampton man in exchange for crack cocaine. A 36-year-old Newport News woman remained jailed without bond Wednesday on charges that she prostituted her 10-year-old daughter in exchange for crack cocaine, police said. A relative of the victim reported the incident to police late Saturday, and officers responded to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, where the girl was being treated, said Hampton Police Cpl. Allison Good.